It's been awhile since I've posted to my blog. I failed to blog about our October visit which we thoroughly enjoyed, but my mind hasn't allowed me to concentrate long enough to compose a blog post. In October, Phil was diagnosed with colon cancer. We've undergone surgery, recuperation, and more testing to determine next steps. I say "we've" because after 40 years together, our lives are intertwined...we will face this together. We came to Two Holt on Tuesday afternoon to spend the Thanksgiving holiday break at our favorite place. I wish I could describe how anxiety, frustration, and sadness simply dissipate the moment we step inside Two Holt. We are grateful God lead us to this little place a few years ago. Wednesday was a day of cooking as we prepared for our brother, Larry, and his partner, sweet Susan to spend Thanksgiving with us. Thursday morning we awoke early--the sun was coming up over the mountain and there was a light dusting of snow.

Later in the morning we noticed a very light snow was falling again.

The little snowman I had just added to the porch the day before seemed to watch the snow fall with gratitude.

The view from our front deck

Later, we enjoyed a delightful Thanksgiving meal with Larry and Susan.

Ready for Larry and Susan

Larry and Susan

Phil and me

On Friday Phil and I drove down the mountain to Clayton to pick up material to prepare the garden for winter. We stopped by Scaly Mountain to watch the ice skaters and sledding for just a minute.

Scaly Mountain's hill ready for sledding

Ice skating at Scaly Mountain

Larry and Susan came over Saturday to help us clean up the garden for the winter. Here's how it looked when they came over a couple of weeks ago to make sure the pipes didn't freeze.

The garden in mid-November

We raked and raked and raked...

Larry and Susan raking the driveway.

Phil raking the sitting garden.

Phil and Larry wrapped garden pots with a little insulation to protect the root balls of the brunnera and hosta plants which live there.

Our efforts paid off and the garden has been tucked into bed for the winter.

We cleaned up and went into town to eat lunch at Cypress, an international cuisine restaurant on Main Street.

What a lunch!

After eating we walked out on the restaurant's open deck and enjoyed the view of Main Street.

Phil and me--the town's Christmas tree is behind us.

The four of us--Larry, Susan, me, and Phil

After eating we did a little shopping at The Highlands Hiker.

After a short rest at Two Holt, we drove back into town for the lighting of the town's Christmas tree. Such a sweet ceremony--we sang Christmas carols and listened to a Bible reading from the book of Luke.

We sang a bit more, welcomed Santa to town, and then it was countdown time to light the tree!

We said goodbye to Larry and Susan and went back to enjoy a warm, cozy evening at Two Holt. We prepared Two Holt for winter by blowing out the pipes and securing everything. We're talking about a week long trip back to Two Holt after Christmas. We shall see. We shall see.